Hidden Disabilities

Q&A with Kent Streeb, VP of Communications & Partnerships

Beyond being a hidden disability, color blindness is an underestimated one. The fact that the EnChroma glasses tied for first in the InnovateABLE competition at EMS 2023 is a testament to the strength of Kent Streeb’s presentation and the data he presented about the effects of color blindness. To cite one telling statistic from a recent study by EnChroma, nearly three quarters of respondents say they feel “left out” or disappointed in trips to museums, gardens and parks because they cannot fully experience the colors. We talked with Kent about his background and the impact of the glasses. 

Q1:   Tell us about yourself and how you came to be involved in the field of assistive innovations for people with disabilities. 

My late step sister-in-law was severely disabled, wheelchair-bound and non-verbal. My mother-in-law has severe mobility constraints. My firsthand experiences traveling with both of them to places like Kauai, or to local beaches in the Bay Area, always illustrated the additional burdens travel poses for those with mobility challenges, from simple issues with access to others. It made me realize how critical it is for organizations to consider accessibility. I also served in the Peace Corps in West Africa working in rural healthcare. I witnessed so many addressable health conditions related to vision, mobility and others that caused people everyday pain and obstacles. This furthered my interest in seeking to work for a company that helps people.

In terms of EnChroma, my dad is color blind. I thought I knew all about it but after joining EnChroma soon realized that I was highly ignorant of how he sees colors, the issues it can cause in daily life, and how it can detract from their interest in travel to colorful destinations and/or in navigating travel. Everything from where to park (red or green painted curbs/zones) to catching the correct subway train based on a color-coded route map, to being able to interpret colored trails on a map at a park, can all cause confusion and frustration. Moreover, since color blind people only see 10% of the one million hues and shades visible to others, things like going to a colorful tropical location, to see art at a museum, experiencing the colors of a botanical garden, taking a trip to see the fall colors, or looking at a rainbow, can all be less interesting.

Q2:    How long have you been in business and what is your escalator pitch (longer than elevator but shorter than a full explanation) for your innovation?

One in 12 men (8%) and one in 200 women (.5%) are color blind – 13 million in the US, 30 million in Europe, and 350 million worldwide. For them, understanding colorful information in school, at work, in nature, during travel, at museums and in daily life can cause obstacles. While people with normal color vision see over one million shades of color, the red-green color blind only see an estimated 10% of hues and shades. Common color confusions include green and yellow, gray and pink, purple and blue, and red and brown, with colors appearing muted and dull. This creates frustration for people who are CVD and detracts from their ability to fully experience colors in art, nature, sports and travel.

EnChroma’s patented lens technology is engineered with special optical filters that enable people with red-green color blindness to see an expanded range of colors more vibrantly, clearly and distinctly. The glasses can help the color blind more fully participate in life’s colorful moments and overcome confusion and frustration in school, at work, and in daily life. The glasses work for 8 of 10 red-green color blind people, results and reaction times vary and they are not a cure or fix for color blindness.

Q3:  What travel, or travel-adjacent problem does your innovation address? How might a destination introduce it to their stakeholders?

Color blindness is a factor that destinations need to address. An EnChroma study of color blind people found that half of respondents said color blindness affects their interest in going to art and other museums (49%), and over three-fourths feel “left out” or disappointed in trips to art museums, gardens and parks because they cannot fully experience the colors. Roughly three of four (71.88%) find it challenging to understand maps, brochures, signage and exhibits that convey information via colors at museums, parks, tourist destinations and concerts. And 84% say venues rarely or never consider their needs in their usage of colors.

It is very easy for destinations to introduce EnChroma glasses or our color blind-adapted scenic viewfinders for visitors to enjoy. Visitors can easily borrow the glasses for colorful activities or for a day or duration of their stay. This is done at scores of tourist attractions around the world. In fact, EnChroma is the lead advocate for “color accessibility” through its EnChroma Color Accessibility Program™. The program helps over 400 organizations purchase viewers for the color blind and/or loan EnChroma glasses to color blind students and guests at 30 K-12 schools, 15 universities, 50 state and national park locations across 20 states, 200 public libraries, 100+ museums, and seven tourism departments.

Through partnerships with leading vendors, scenic viewers adapted for the color blind with EnChroma lenses are also available. The program is open to employers. EnChroma donates a pair of glasses for every pair purchased by an organization that plans to loan the glasses to the public to enhance accessibility and inclusion. An outdoor “kit” of EnChroma glasses runs under $850 while an indoor “kit” of glasses is less than $650. Adapting an existing viewfinder is just $500. If you loan the glasses, they will come; venues like art museums report 15-20 people per week coming to borrow the glasses (as reported by museums with 400,000 annual visitors).

The seven tourism departments that have made their attractions “color accessible” are:

• Tennessee Tourism (15 viewers + glasses loaned)
• Visit Seattle (over 30 museums loan EnChroma glasses)
• Travel Yukon (6 locations loan glasses)
• City of Mission, BC (3 locations loan glasses)
• City of Prescott, AZ (loan glasses at 5 locations)
• City of Milledgeville, GA (loan glasses at 5 locations)
• City of Sandy, OR (2 viewers)

Some of the name organizations that already participate in our program include the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Van Gogh Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, Dallas Museum of Art, Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge, Kauaʻi National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota State Parks (all 13), Virginia State Parks (all 45), the University of North Carolina, Boston University, Penn State University.

Q4:  What sort of testing have you done as you developed the product? Does the product correct for all kinds of colorblindness?

EnChroma glasses have been researched and shown effective by world-renowned color vision scientists at esteemed universities such as UC Davis, the University of Sussex, the University of Incarnate Word, and others. The original research on the glasses was funded by SBIR grants via the National Institutes of Health (NIH). EnChroma glasses are designed for those with either type of red-green color blindness, which represents 98% of the color blind population. A wearer must have all three of their “color cones” in their eye present and functioning for our glasses to have an effect.

Q5; What is your business model—costs,  type of funding, pricing? What percent of your sales are B-to-B vs B-to-C?

Our business model is direct to consumer. EnChroma glasses can be ordered online or purchased directly in-person from over 400 vision eyecare professionals at locations around the world. Through our Color Accessibility Program we sell to organizations and donate a pair of glasses for each pair purchased they buy to loan the glasses to the public to enhance accessibility and inclusion. The glasses cost between $189-$349 and can be made with a prescription in the lenses for other vision issues. EnChroma makes glasses for both indoor and outdoor use.